Keys are recessed within the frame. Only five stored profiles. Swarm software needs an update. No per-key lighting. Membrane switches have poor longevity.

Bottom Line

This keyboard has promising features, like pressure-sensitive keys and Easy Shift, but the implementation isn't well thought out: The configuration software needs updating, and membrane switches tend to wear out quickly.

The proliferation of mechanical keyboards targeted at gamers has dramatically increased the number of competitive features you'll find on keyboards. It has created fierce competition, which has driven prices down a bit (although good mechanical switches are still relatively costly), but, in the end, it appears to have given keyboard manufacturers just two choices: Either to compete in the heavily saturated mechanical keyboard market and risk anonymity, or follow Drevo and other Taiwanese manufacturers and cut the feature set to a minimum, buy off-brand mechanical switches, and slash prices to the bone.

But a third alternative is emerging, which inverts Drevo's formula: Keep the high-end features, but replace the mechanical switches with far cheaper membrane ones.

Most veteran gamers would object, since membrane switches decay or wear out much more quickly, but buyers unfamiliar with mechanical keyboards might be persuaded. It's a strategy Razer used for its Cynosa Chroma. However, that model suffered from buggy, incomplete beta configuration software and a lack of dedicated media keys—in our view, it didn't offer enough to compensate for the short lifespan of its membrane switches.

Roccat has just attempted a similar marketing strategy with the Isku+ Force FX ($99.99 MSRP), but has introduced several new and upgraded features for serious gamers, as well. They've certainly raised the stakes, but a variety of issues get in the way of realizing what could have been an attractive first-time gamer's keyboard.

Design

Here's a first look at the Roccat Isku+ Force FX…

Its sharp edges and oversized decorative elements make it instantly recognizable as a gaming keyboard, unless you mistake it for a ship about to take off and speed home to Antares. The case and keys are dark gray, while the Isku+ logo and three so-called thumbster macro keys are furnished in shiny black. At a width of 19.7 inches and a length of 9.7 inches, it has a sprawling quality, but much of it is useful real estate, such as the bank of five macro keys on the left…

as well as the three thumbster macro keys we just mentioned, below the spacebar…

You'll also find six dedicated media buttons and a brightness button above the F key row…

LED indicators show the status of macro recording and pressure sensitive keys, which we'll consider under Features…

And finally, there are three Lock LEDs on the upper right, under the Roccat Swarm logo…

It's difficult to tell in this image, but Roccat has recessed the Isku+ Force FX's keys within a thin yet sturdy frame…

Presumably this was done to maximize the backlighting's brightness. If so, it was a poor tradeoff: recessed keys make it very difficult to remove debris that falls into the keyboard. We prefer keys that sit above the frame on narrow apertures, because it becomes much easier to blow out small particles using a can of compressed air.

We also take exception to the Isku+ Force FX's rubber-coated, 70-inch cord...

In our view, braided cords offer better wire protection since they prevent wires from being accidentally slashed or bent repeatedly to the point of breaking over time. So, when you combine this with the unit's plastic frame and membrane switches, it doesn't bode well for the longevity of this keyboard.

Finally, we considered the Isku+ Force FX's two feet, which raise the back end of the keyboard by a third of an inch...

This is far too little to be ergonomically beneficial. Feet are intended to place the fingertips closer to a keyboard's back rows, with less resultant strain. This is often an issue in units like this one, which adds an extra row of dedicated media keys above the F keys. But the keyboard would need to be raised an inch or more to avoid problems. Even Razer's design on the Cynosa Chroma, which provides feet-within-feet for two different levels, offers a better solution.

Setup and Features

While previous Roccat peripherals we've reviewed (such as the Kone AIMO) required installation of multiple modules to run Swarm, the company's configuration utility, that didn't prove the case with the Isku+ Force FX. We downloaded and installed the driver and Swarm itself with relative ease, in under ten minutes. The only problem we experienced occurred when the software asked us to remove and reseat the USB cable after updating, instead of after rebooting. That was, however, easily resolved.

All non-physical keyboard features can be experienced firsthand in Swarm. So, let's take a look at the utility.

The first screen (General Features) gives a sense of its highly informational but tightly organized approach. We just wonder why this is the first screen you see: It's kind of a catch-all screen, with a "put it all here if it fits nowhere else" quality that traditionally appears last in similar utilities from Razer, Logitech, and Corsair…

On the General Features screen, we also found some Control Panel Keyboard standards, such as Repeat Delay, Repeat Rate, and Cursor Blink Rate. There are some odd options here as well, such as setting an illumination and/or sound effect if the keyboard falls asleep or awakens. But the most bizarre option was setting typewriter or beam weapon effect sounds that will play through your speakers every time you press a key.

The next screen, Key Assignment, offers drag-and-drop functionality and is simple and straightforward, but it's not the best implementation we've seen…

The text is dark and has a small font size, making it hard to see. Also, we found the GUI doesn't work as expected: We expected to be able to click anywhere in one of the function directories, view its contents, and drag one of the actions. But instead, you have to click very close to the left edge of an action (around the arrow) or it won't move. There are extensive options as well, but they are both too generalized and eccentrically organized. For example, "System & OS" offers 24 selections in all, but they're in no discernible order.

One of Roccat's two big features it's touting on the Isku+ Force FX is available from this screen: Easy-Shift, like Razer's Hypershift, was developed recently to impart the concept of a keyboard's extra actions (via the Shift key) onto mice. Now, Roccat brings that feature back to select keyboards. The result: instead of having two functions for many keys, shifted and unshifted, you have three when used in combination with a designated Easy-Shift key. It's an interesting idea if you're the kind of productivity- or gaming-minded type who wants a lot of functionality at your fingertips, and can remember it all without needing to look it up online.

That said, we're a bit surprised at Roccat's tentative implementation. There are 123 keys on the Isku+ Force FX. Just 28 of these on the left side of the keyboard can apply Easy-Shift. The point isn't a matter of numbers, but that any given player may have other keys he or she would prefer to use with Easy-Shift instead, perhaps on the numeric pad or F key row, rather than those which have been arbitrarily chosen for them.

Key Illumination is Swarm's third screen…

Not unexpectedly for a keyboard with membrane switches, there are no difficulties lighting all keycaps evenly. But even at its brightest, the illumination on this keyboard is fairly dim, and hard to see if you're gaming in the dark. There's no per-key or per-zone lighting, either. It's all or nothing.

Force FX Setting, the fourth screen, brings us to the other major feature being touted for the Isku+ Force FX…

This is where you configure what Roccat refers to as the keyboard's Pressure-Sensitive Key Zone. Each of these keys is capable of measuring the pressure being applied to it and its response accordingly. Depending upon how it's configured on a given key, one of three results is possible. First, the key registers its standard value. Second, degrees of pressure are interpreted as though supplied by a controller, providing more or less acceleration in space and racing simulations. Third, up to three separate degrees of pressure can trigger up to three separate actions.

The W key in the image above triggers Alt+S with an applied pressure of 5 percent, and S with a pressure of 100 percent. (You can see the measure of that pressure as the five leftmost LEDs at the top of the keyboard light up. They're just eye candy, however, since they provide no quantitative measurement of anything, and it's unlikely you'd be able to give them much attention while gaming, unless you're a devotee of crash and burn.)

Roccat refers to the Isku+ Force FX as the first product to debut Force technology, and in the strictest sense—as a pressure-responsive system for peripherals, specifically named Force—it's correct. But pressure-responsive keys and buttons in computer peripherals have been repeatedly tried in the past, starting with a 2009 effort by Microsoft which collapsed before it reached the retail stage. Last year, we saw that the Swiftpoint Z Mouse, which allows users to create complex macros that integrate multiple levels of button pressure with unique results, proves such a system can be done and done very well. So it's a great idea, and one we'd gladly welcome—except that, again, Roccat's implementation is oddly cautious. Instead of making this available across a broad range of keys, just six (QWEASD) supply this very useful functionality…

Continuing on with Swarm, at the bottom of the screen, there's an option to launch the Macro Editor. It's decent enough, but lacks Corsair's breadth of customization.

Alongside it is the Profile Manager. It supports auto-loading up to three executables per profile. Swarm, however, only accesses profiles stored in memory, which limits it to just five profiles. (Unless you want to go through the effort of swapping out those five by exporting and importing profiles every time you load a sixth game. Right, we didn't think so, either.) That's very much behind the times, since Roccat's most substantial competition, including Corsair, Logitech, and Razer, support an unlimited number of game-specific profiles, which are stored and instantly accessible on the computer. Being limited to only five active profiles at a time is awkward when most of us prefer to select from a far greater array of our gaming titles; and that, along with the GUI's emo coloration and poorly arranged key assignments, leads us to hope Roccat will upgrade its configuration software soon.

For this review, we won't revisit the mechanical-switches-versus-membrane-switches debate. It's really a matter of taste. For some, the very quiet keys and low prices of most membrane keyboards make them preferable, with the least expensive units selling for under $10. Others, especially gamers, favor the more distinctive touch of mechanical switches (which come in many established varieties of tactility, pressure, and sound) and their longevity, which outlast their membrane counterparts by anywhere from 5 to 10 years.

Performance

Gaming with the Isku+ Force FX was a mixed bag for us since we often found truly attractive features were time and again compromised by a variety of issues. For instance, pressure-responsive keys are a great idea and were implemented well in the Swiftpoint Z Mouse. But the Isku+ Force FX only offers six on this keyboard. Easy-Shift is another excellent feature, but it's locked on just 23 keys, which are clustered on the left side of the unit. Swarm is a fine configuration utility, but hard to read, and seriously compromised by supporting only five stored profiles at a time. The price is sensible, but this keyboard's membrane switches wear out quickly. In principle, we like the idea of providing buyers with a wrist rest, but this one is made of hard plastic and uncomfortable, and you can't detach it.

Similarly, eight dedicated macro keys should bring delight to the heart of many a dedicated gamer, but Swarm's macro editor is basic, at best. It doesn't support swapping profiles on the fly, running timed commands, or creating a macro that performs one action when a key is pressed and another when it's released. In its current state, building macros in the 123 keys on the Isku+ Force FX is like buying a large home without a furniture budget.

Dedicated media keys, too, are most welcome, but they're at the top of this lengthy peripheral, and the unit's very low-rise feet make for an unpleasant stretch every time you want to change volume or, for that matter, access the F keys row. Over time, that turns into tendon fatigue and, ultimately, repetitive motion injury.

Conclusion

Or it would, if you used the Isku+ Force FX over the course of many years. But with membrane switches rather than mechanical ones, a keyboard's active life expectancy is two years at the most, and typically a lot less with a gamer's frequent use.

Most of us get attached to the peripherals we own on a daily basis. We come to know their peculiarities, leverage their strengths, and circumvent their weaknesses. Over time, they become extensions of our arms and hands while interacting with work, the world, and virtual worlds, alike. One might not intend to keep a keyboard around for five to ten years. But you won't have that option with membrane switches.

If Roccat had worked out the physical design problems with the Isku+ Force FX, extended its innovative features to their full capabilities, and reworked Swarm, this keyboard would be an excellent bet for someone looking for a raft of gaming features—even if they were shelling out $100, which is by any standard very high for a short-lived membrane keyboard. But there are too many issues here to make that recommendation.

It'll be interesting to see what Roccat does with its new set of keyboard features next—especially pressure-responsive keys—but in the meantime, the Corsair K68 series of mechanicals seems to us a superior alternative. At the same price point, it furnishes dedicated media keys, a detachable wrist rest, Cherry MX mechanical switches, and a great configuration utility with a top-notch macro editor. There are no dedicated macro keys, no pressure-responsive ones, and no equivalent to Easy-Shift, but everything on offer is exceptionally well implemented.

Mind you, if Roccat slashes the Isku+ Force FX's price at some future point, it becomes a much more competitive keyboard. In the meantime, the question of whether a manufacturer can successfully graft high-end gaming features onto a membrane keyboard and create a bestseller remains open.

Roccat Isku+ Force FX

Bottom Line: This keyboard has promising features, like pressure-sensitive keys and Easy Shift, but the implementation isn't well thought out: The configuration software needs updating, and membrane switches tend to wear out quickly.

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About the Author

In 1987, Barry left public radio production and management after 17 years. Since then, he has written hundreds of reviews, articles, and the occasional column for a wide variety of magazines on computer-related subjects. He also works as a critic of new releases of classical music for Fanfare Magazine.

Roccat Isku+ Force FX

Roccat Isku+ Force FX

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